Wednesday, June 20, 2007

At our local farmer's market in Mytown, offerings are getting good. I couldn't resist the fat-bulbed sweet spring onions that beckoned to me from the farmstands. I picked up some beautiful local asparagus as well. I thought about a way to showcase both of these flavors and decided a pizza was the best way to go. I wanted this pizza to scream freshness and spring-y goodness, so selected a nice hunk of fresh porcini mushroom, prosciutto di parma, goat cheese, and basil. I served it with a locally-grown romaine salad.

Additionally, dear readers, things are starting to get nutso with our impending relocation to SmallMountainTown. I beg forgiveness for the sparseness of my posts: look forward to a bit of leisure time come August!

Prepare pizza dough according to recipe. Preheat oven and pan to 500 degrees. I recommend a pizza stone, but a baking sheet will work too. Heat a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute 3 minutes or so. Add asparagus and saute until tender. Stir in spring onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook 1 minute longer. Remove from heat.

Stretch or roll dough into a large round (or rectangle, if using baking sheets). Top pizza round with the sparsest sprinkling of olive oil, the veggies, prosciutto, and goat cheese. Remove hot stone or pan from the oven, sprinkle with cornmeal, and use a peel to transfer the pizza onto the pan/stone. Alternatively, build the pizza directly on the hot pan/stone. Put pizza in oven and lower heat to 450 degrees. Bake until crust is crispy and golden on the edges, 15 minutes or so. Sprinkle with basil and serve.